Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Azerbaijan and Japan plan to sign an agreement on promotion and mutual protection of investments.

This was noted at a meeting of Azerbaijan's Economy and Industry Minister Shahin Mustafayev with a Japanese delegation headed by Itochu Executive Vice President Yoichi Kobayashi on October 20.

Mustafayev hailed the development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Japan in various fields, including economy.

He said to date the two countries have signed 17 documents on cooperation in various fields, and there are 19 companies in Azerbaijan operating with Japanese capital.

During the meeting the draft agreement on promotion and mutual protection of investments was presented to the Japanese side.

The sides noted that the signing of the agreement is of great importance in terms of the future development of the bilateral economic ties.

Kobayashi, for his part, mentioned the existence of huge capacities for future expansion of bilateral ties between Azerbaijan and Japan.

He also stressed the role of intergovernmental commission in terms of development of relations between the two countries.

The diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and Japan were established in 1992. Japan was one of the first countries to support Azerbaijan's forward-looking oil strategy.

Today two major Japanese companies Itochu and Impex are involved in the Contract of the Century. Leaders of Japanese business, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Marubeni, and Sojits are involved in the energy and infrastructure projects in the country.

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Japan amounted to $311 million in 2013.